1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to jewelry, and more specifically, relates to a method and apparatus for attaching jewelry to one's hair.
2. Description of the Related Art
Jewelry has been and continues to be an important and desired accessory to adorn and highlight one's appearance. Jewelry for one's head, such as ear-rings, are also very popular and commonly used. In the past, the only adornment for one's hair has been the unattractive, large decorations that were affixed to hair bands, hair clips, and other accessories for holding hair or otherwise securing hair in a way that is intended to impair the movement of the hair. An example of this type of accessory are hair clips that are worn to keep the hair back away from the face.
Recently, there has been much interest in jewelry for one's hair. An important consideration in the design of hair jewelry is that the approach used to attach the jewelry to one's hair provide a "floating effect." The "floating effect" makes the jewelry appear to a viewer to float and be magically attached without any visible structure to one's hair. An important component to support the "floating effect" is the use of many jewelry that are attached to different strands of hair so that as different strands of hair move independent of other strands, the jewelry moves in a correspondingly independent fashion with respect to other pieces of jewelry. Accordingly, conventional hair clips that have a decorative part cannot produce this effect since the clip portion is prominent and is designed specifically to limit and impair the movement of the hair.
Additionally, in the design of hair jewelry it is important to meet the following criteria: (1) a hair jewelry where the decorative or ornamental aspects are the primary and most noticeable features; and (2) hair jewelry that naturally moves in a flowing motion with one's hair. Unfortunately, the hair clips described previously are clumsy and fail to meet both of these criteria. In fact, the decorations on hair clips and hair holding accessories are secondary effects and often more of an after thought rather than a primary consideration since for the hair clips to perform their function, the functional structures are necessarily very prominent and observable. In addition, these hair clips by their very functional nature restrict and impair the movement of hair thereby precluding the possibility of natural movement with one's hair.
Accordingly, new approaches to attach jewelry that try to address the two criteria set forth above have been attempted. One approach utilizes Velcro.TM. material and static friction and to attach jewelry to one's hair Unfortunately, this approach is unreliable, and a common complaint is that the jewelry easily shifts and becomes detached from the hair, thereby increasing the frustration of a user and also the likelihood of losing the jewelry.
Another approach utilizes a two piece metal clothing snap to attach jewelry to one's hair. Since metal clips are designed to keep two pieces of cloth together, such as jeans or a shirt, these clips perform a very poor job of securing jewelry to hair. Unfortunately, as like the first approach, this second approach is unreliable in that the jewelry easily shifts and becomes detached from the hair. Furthermore, the metal snap is easily rendered useless when a backing portion is lost or misplaced.
Accordingly, there remains a need for a method and apparatus for attaching jewelry to one's hair that provides a "floating effect" while overcoming the advantages set forth previously.